WrestlingRumors.net

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Main Event Results - June 6, 2019

Posted: 09 Jun 2019 10:56 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/main-event-results-june-6-2019/


Main Event

Date: June 6, 2019

Location: Frank Erwin Center, Austin, Texas

Commentators: Byron Saxton, Renee Young

I don’t know if it’s because Raw has been such a mess or because of how terrible Super ShowDown was, but I can’t remember much of anything from
this week’s Raw or Smackdown. They’re just shows that happened and nothing is sticking out from them. Hopefully the recaps don’t make me want to pull out my hair. Again. Let’s get to it.

Opening sequence.
EC3 vs. No Way Jose

A shoulder puts Jose down to start so he hits one of his own, followed by a dropkick. An airplane spin doesn’t get Jose very far as EC3 slips out and hits the forward DDT to take over. EC3 hits a hard clothesline for two and
a neckbreaker is good for the same. They head up top but Jose shoves him
down and hits a high crossbody, followed by a flapjack for two of his own.
That earns him a crotching on top though and the 1%er finishes Jose at 5:30.

Result: EC3 b. No Way Jose 1%er (5:30)

From Raw.

Here’s Seth Rollins for Lesnar’s cash in. Brock’s music plays but he doesn’t come out so Rollins calls him out again. Instead he gets Baron Corbin, who promises to crush Rollins’ dreams on Friday. The fight is on
with Corbin getting caught with an enziguri to the floor. Rollins hits a suicide dive and there’s Lesnar’s music again. Corbin hits End of Days though and NOW it’s Lesnar with a chair. Lesnar kicks Rollins low and
unloads with the chair, followed by a German suplex.

Heyman wants him to cash in but instead Lesnar throws Rollins outside.
Lesnar hits an F5 on the floor (with Rollins bouncing), followed by more
chair shots. Heyman starts swearing about how this is the time but Lesnar suplexes Rollins again. Lesnar: “FRIDAY!” And they leave with no cash in, come back to hit Rollins in the back with the briefcase and chair, and
leave again with Lesnar doing the boom box thing with the briefcase.
Rollins does a stretcher job.

Uh, how about Monday:

Post break Rollins is put in an ambulance with Becky Lynch going with him. [This post contains video, click to play]


From Smackdown.

Here’s Roman Reigns for an opening chat but Shane McMahon cuts him off.
After getting his traditional introduction, Shane talks about being a fine
wine who gets better with age. He promises to hit Coast to Coast and then
pin Reigns, or make him tap out for the first time in his career. The
referee will tell Shane to make him let go of the triangle choke but he’s going to keep it on so Reigns’ eyes pop out as Shane is announced as the
Best in the World.

Reigns tells him to shut up because he’ll powerbomb Shane through the mat
at Super ShowDown. He’s tired of hearing about how great Shane is because Shane always needs help. Once Reigns gets done with Shane on Friday, he’ll beat Drew McIntyre at Stomping Grounds. As for right now though, the two of them are ready for Reigns. Cue the Revival to jump Reigns from behind,
drawing out the Usos for the save in a preview for tonight’s six man tag.

All hail the top star in the company:

[This post contains video, click to play]
It’s time for the Firefly Fun House with a very special episode. This time around, Bray wants to talk about….exercise. Wyatt introduces us to a new character: Huskus the Pig. Bray talks to him about his bad health habits
but promises that one day, everyone will tell him that he’s a genius with
the whole world in his hands. Then a Vince McMahon puppet with devil horns
pops in and threatens to fire Huskus. This leads to a dance workout called
the Muscle Man Dance, with Huskus, Vince and Bray all dancing. Now Huskus
is in shape.

Dance time:
[This post contains video, click to play]
Natalya/Dana Brooke vs. Tamina/Sarah Logan

Natalya headlocks Logan down to start and it’s off to Brooke in the first
ten seconds. The rapid fire tags continue with Logan bailing to the floor
as we take a break. Back with Logan holding Natalya in a leglock, which is quickly broken up for the hot tag off to Brooke. That means a bulldog for
two but Tamina superkicks Brooke down for the same. The running corner
splash misses though and it’s an assisted Swanton to give Brooke the pin at 7:47.

Result: Natalya/Dana Brooke b. Tamina/Sarah Logan Assisted Swanton to
Tamina (7:47)

Super ShowDown rundown.

From Raw.

Here’s Undertaker with five minutes left in the show to address Goldberg. Undertaker asks if you ever think about what happens when you face death
every time. Do you choke at the stench of the souls that are already gone? Goldberg will find out on Friday and Undertaker doesn’t want the family. Undertaker wants the unstoppable icon GOLDBERG. If Goldberg brings anything less, their first match will be his last. When the reaper beckons, you
answer his call, because Undertaker will claim his soul for all eternity. Goldberg is next. And we’re off the air less than a second after Undertaker finishes talking.

The dead man talks:

[This post contains video, click to play]
And from Smackdown.

Here’s Goldberg for the first time ever on Smackdown. He thanks the fans
for their chants and says it’s time to get down to business. He’s been waiting over twenty years to face the Undertaker one on one. Last night he heard Undertaker say he didn’t want the family man Goldberg. That statement made a light go off in Goldberg’s head and he knows he wants the same Goldberg to face Undertaker as well.

At Super ShowDown, Undertaker will Rest in Peaceand there goes the gong. Undertaker is behind Goldberg, who seems rather pleased about this. They
stare each other down and the lights go out again so Undertaker can
disappear. Goldberg says he’ll see Undertaker on Friday and it’s going to be a ride.

The intensity was incredible:

[This post contains video, click to play]
Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since
2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post Main Event Results June 6, 2019 appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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Impact Wrestling Results - June 7, 2019

Posted: 09 Jun 2019 09:56 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/impact-wrestling-results-june-7-2019/


Impact Wrestling

Date: June 7, 2019

Location: 2300 Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Commentators: Don Callis, Josh Matthews

We’re still in Philadelphia and unfortunately that probably means more ECW guys taking up a huge part of the show. That being said, I’m almost scared
to see what they might come up with next. Why they need to come up with anything new is beyond me as they have a lot of talent who can have some awesome matches when they actually put in the effort. Let’s get to it.

We recap last week’s show, which was quite the all over the place show.

Opening sequence.
Cousin Jake vs. Ace Austin

Jake’s cousin Cody is in his corner. Austin gets in some pushups before we start but he can’t get in a drop toehold. Some kicks to Jake’s back work a bit better and a hurricanrana takes Jake down. Austin low bridges him to
the floor and, after the handstand on the apron, kicks Jake in the face. A running flip dive is blocked though and a running crossbody against the
apron gives Jake two. Back in and Austin gets body blocked out of the air
but Ace avoids a charge in the corner.

That means a paper cut with the Ace of spades and a top rope Fameasser gets
two on Jake. It’s time to start on Jake’s arm with a variety of pulling. Some chops just annoy Jake so Austin kicks him in the head instead. Jake
blasts him with a clothesline for a double knockdown as Cody cheers Jake
from ringside. A Michinoku Driver gives Jake two and there’s a running shoulder n the corner. Cue the Desi Hit Squad to go after Cody though,
allowing Ace to hit the Fold for the pin at 8:54.

Result: Ace Austin b. Cousin Jake The Fold (8:54)

Taya Valkyrie doesn’t want to hear about Rosemary again and it’s not Taya’s
fault that Rosemary is obsessed with her.

The announcers chat about the show.
Taya Valkyrie vs. Rosemary

Non-title and Rosemary still has Su Yung on the chain. Taya takes her down
and hammers away to start, followed by some kicks in the corner. The fans certainly seem to like Taya strutting around the ring and hitting a Meteora
in the corner. Rosemary is right back with the Upside Down but a missile dropkick misses. Something like a Sling Blade takes Taya right back down
and a reverse DDT gets two. It’s off to a Koji Clutch of all things….and here are James Mitchell and Havok with the latter taking out Rosemary for
the DQ at 4:28.

Result: Rosemary b. Taya Valkyrie via DQ when Havok interfered (4:28)

Post match Havok lays out Taya and Rosemary as Mitchell certainly approves. Havok lets Rosemary free.

The Rascalz are ready for their Tag Team Title shot and talk about the Pet
Shop Boys. Trey drinks a bit.

Flashback Moment of the Week: Great Muta vs. Mr. Anderson from TNA vs. the World in 2015.

Eddie Edwards comes up to Sandman in the back because he can’t accept the
new kendo stick. Eddie: “It wouldn’t be fair to Kenny.” Sandman writes KENNY on the stick and Eddie is happy.

Video on Brian Cage vs. Michael Elgin at Slammiversary.

Elgin has showed that he’s better than Cage and the path he’s clearing leads straight to the World Title. Next week, Elgin will see Cage across
the ring from him instead of Willie Mack.
Madman Fulton vs. Fox Vinier/Michael Emineo

Sami Callihan slaps Fulton in the face to start and Fulton starts beating
both of them up at once. Vinier is slammed onto Emineo and they’re both run over again. A chokeslam to each sets up a double chokeslam but Sami isn’t happy. He slaps Fulton a few times and says to kill them, setting up a
swinging Downward Spiral to send Vinier onto Emineo for the pin at 3:23.

Result: Madman Fulton b. Fox Vinier/Michael Emineo Swinging Downward
Spiral to Vinier (3:23)

Post match Sami says he’s sick of the Knockout nonsense and people like Scarlett Bordeaux and Fallah Bahh embarrassing them. Actually get the
Crists out here right now because we’re having the tag match right now.
Crist Brothers vs. Fallah Bahh/Scarlett Bordeaux

Bahh suplexes Jake to start but Sami grabs his foot. That’s enough for a double ejection of Callihan and Fulton, leaving Bahh to slam Dave. A missed charge sends Bahh shoulder first into the post though and the Brothers take over. Bahh shouts a lot as the two of them beat him up, including Jake
ripping at Bahh’s mouth.

One heck of a crossbody crushes Dave but Jake prevents the hot tag, which
might not be the brightest idea in the world. Dave gets sent to the floor
but manages to pull Scarlett off the apron before Bahh can get to her. For
some reason Jake tries a sunset flip and gets crushed, allowing the tag to Scarlett. Some headscissors have the Brothers in trouble and a double high crossbody sets up Bahh’s double suicide dive.

Scarlett’s top rope flip dive takes both of them down again as the fans
deem this awesome. Back in and Jake slams Scarlett, sending Callis through
the roof. Scarlett is right back with a reverse hurricanrana and it’s a Doomsday Device for two on Dave. The double Banzai Drop misses though and Scarlett is rocked, allowing Jake to hit Bahh with a roll of quarters for
the pin at 10:24.

Result: Crist Brothers b. Fallah Bahh/Scarlett Bordeaux Jake hit Bahh with
a roll of quarters (10:24)

Post match the Crists go after Scarlett again but Tessa Blanchard makes the save, including Magnum to Jake.

Willie Mack doesn’t like the idea of Elgin taking food off his plate so it’s time to stop Elgin. Rich Swann says he has his back. Johnny Impact
comes in to say that bad times are coming. Rich is about to be on the
Johnny Impact diet because after Slammiversary, he’ll be ten pounds lighter.

Callihan yells at the Crists and promises to take care of the Knockouts.
Kiera Hogan vs. Jordynne Grace

Hogan hits her in the face a few times and scores with a dropkick but
charges into a boot in the corner. A middle rope backsplash gives Grace two
and the one armed delayed Jackhammer gets two. Kiera is smart enough to
hide in the corner to sucker Grace in and choke away, followed by a
basement dropkick for two of her own.

There’s something like a one knee Codebreaker for two more, but Grace is right back with a spinebuster. Some running knees in the corner have Hogan
in more trouble and her attempt at a super sunset bomb goes rather badly. A kick to the head misses Grace and the Grace Driver finishes Hogan at 7:58.

Result: Jordynne Grace b. Kiera Hogan Grace Driver (7:58)

Konnan yells at LAX for not taking the Rascalz seriously. Santana: “They’re from Toledo!”

Moose doesn’t like ECW legends being around here twenty years past their prime and wants Rob Van Dam at Slammiversary.
Tag Team Titles: LAX vs. Rascalz

Zachary Wentz/Dezmond Xavier for the challenging Rascalz here with Konnan
and Trey Miguel at ringside. Wentz and Ortiz feel things out to start as
Konnan tells commentary to talk nicely about him. Dez comes in and kicks
Ortiz to the floor, followed by a running double stomp to Santana’s back. That means the back to back dives to the floor as the champs are in early trouble. Back in and a Swanton into the Final Flash gets two on Santana as
we take a break.

We come back with Ortiz hitting a middle rope DDT on Wentz, followed by a German suplex to give Santana two. The champs’ double teaming starts until
a missed charge allows the hot tag to Dez. That means the pace picks up
with a suicide dive from Dez and a tag back to Wentz. A sunset flip sends Santana across the ring but he rolls into a cutter on Dez, leaving Wentz to
get rolled up for two.

Everyone is down for a bit until Dez breaks up the champs’ double belly to back faceplant. Instead Wentz gets powerslammed but Ortiz gets annoyed at Miguel for stealing his flask. The contents of said flask are spat in the referee’s face so Wentz hits a springboard cutter on Santana. Miguel comes
in with a top rope Meteora with another referee (one who doesn’t seem to
have been paying attention) to count the pin for the titles at 14:25.

Result: Rascalz b. LAX Top rope Meteora to Santana (14:25)

Or not as the first referee wakes up to say it’s a DQ so LAX retains.

Results

Ace Austin b. Cousin Jake – The Fold

Rosemary b. Taya Valkyrie via DQ when Havok interfered

Madman Fulton b. Fox Vinier/Michael Emineo – Swinging Downward Spiral to Vinier

Crists b. Fallah Bahh/Scarlett Bordeaux – Jake hit Bahh with a roll of quarters

Jordynne Grace b. Kiera Hogan – Grace Driver

LAX b. Rascalz when Trey Miguel interfered

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since
2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post Impact Wrestling Results June 7, 2019 appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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Its Dream Match Time. Chris Jericho Sets Up Another Huge Feud.

Posted: 09 Jun 2019 08:42 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/dream-match-time-chris-jericho-sets-another-huge-feud/


That’s one way to go. Often times, the biggest matches in professional wrestling are never before seen dream matches. While these can often have issues with the levels of pressure to live up to, often times the matches
are more than capable of living up to the hype. You never know what you
might get though, but a new dream match has some serious potential.

In the main event of New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Dominion event, IWGP Heavyweight Champion Kazuchika Okada defeated Chris Jericho to retain the title. After the match was over, Jericho continued to attack Okada until Okada’s long time rival Hiroshi Tanahashi made the save, seeming to set up
a future match with Jericho. However, Jericho said that he would see Okada later, meaning there is no guarantee on who Jericho will be facing next. Jericho is also scheduled to face Hangman Page for the inaugural AEW World Title at All Out on August 31.

It was quite the moment. Check out some highlights of the whole ordeal:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Opinion: Jericho is in a cool place at the moment as he can go and wrestle
just about anywhere he wants against whomever he wants, meaning a lot of
dream matches are suddenly on the table. Tanahashi vs. Jericho is
certainly that kind of a match and if you have Okada included somehow,
perhaps with the AEW World Title added as a bonus, there is a lot of
potential in there.

Will Jericho face Tanahashi? Who will win the match? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post Its Dream Match Time. Chris Jericho Sets Up Another Huge Feud. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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(VIDEO): Two In A Week. Another Former WWE Superstar Debuts For New Japan.

Posted: 09 Jun 2019 08:39 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/two-week-another-former-wwe-superstar-debuts-new-japan/


Another one? The wrestling landscape has been changing all over the world
this year and there is no sign that it is slowing down. One of the most interesting things to do in wrestling is seeing who is going to change from
one promotion to another. It opens up several possibilities for fresh
matchups and as of this morning, a new star has moved to a promotion for
some new possibilities.

Early Sunday morning at New Japan Pro Wrestling’s Dominion event, Kenta Kobayashi (better known by just Kenta), formerly known as Hideo Itami,
debuted for the promotion. During the event, Katsuyori Shibata brought
Kenta to the ring, where Kenta announced that he wanted to be entered into
the upcoming G1 Climax tournament. Kenta has never wrestled full time for
the company, only wrestling one match for the company back in 2002. His
most recent match came on January 29 on 205 Live.

This was quite the moment. Check out Kenta’s debut with the company:
[This post contains video, click to play]

Opinion: It’s certainly a cool thing to see and probably the best for everyone involved. Kenta’s time in WWE really did not work and there isn’t much of a way around it. You can chalk it up to injuries, not being a good
fit or some combination of a bunch of things, but the whole thing did not
work. Hopefully everything goes well, as he’s talented enough to have success elsewhere.

Will Kenta be a success in New Japan? What do you want to see him do
there? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post (VIDEO): Two In A Week. Another Former WWE Superstar Debuts For
New Japan. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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Job Well Done.Maybe? Three WWE Superstars Suspended From Facebook For Impersonating Themselves.

Posted: 09 Jun 2019 08:35 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/job-well-done-maybe-three-wwe-superstars-suspended-facebook-impersonating/


Isn’t that what wrestling is about? Being a WWE wrestler is a complicated situation. While you get to travel the world and be a professional athlete
at the same time, you also have to maintain your character in front of the
fans and make them believe what you’re presenting. This isn’t the easiest thing in the world, but what if you’re good enough at it to fool one of the biggest websites in the world?

A trio of WWE wrestlers have announced that their Facebook pages have been disabled due to the three of them impersonating themselves. Cedric
Alexander, Luke Gallows and Ariya Daivari have all said that Facebook has disabled their accounts because the three of them are not their real
selves. This is a problem that does happen as people will open fake
accounts to pose as celebrities to cheat fans out of money. All three
accounts have since been restored.

So @facebook disabled my account because I was "impersonating" myself..?

- Cedric Alexander (@CedricAlexander) June 9, 2019



ME TOO!!!! https://t.co/IEkeATbqcO

- Luke Gallows (@LukeGallowsWWE) June 9, 2019



Bro me too. I lost my account like 2 weeks ago

- Ariya Daivari (@AriyaDaivariWWE) June 9, 2019



Even though he hasn’t been on television, Alexander can still go. Check
out one of his 205 Live gems:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Gallows can still be intimidating. Check out him wanting a match earlier
this year:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Daivari has had a rather nice year for himself. Check out him headlining a recent show:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Opinion: I guess you would say well done? The problem has since been rectified, but that’s quite the situation to be in. The three of them did nothing wrong and thankfully the problem has been taken care of in a
hurry. Still though, it’s quite the ordeal as it might not be the easiest thing in the world to prove that you are yourself. If nothing else, at
least they can prove that they know how to fool people.

Which of these three has the brightest future? Will Alexander ever be a champion in WWE again? Let us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post Job Well Done.Maybe? Three WWE Superstars Suspended From Facebook
For Impersonating Themselves. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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There Was Another Idea. Super ShowDown Match Originally Had A Different Ending.

Posted: 09 Jun 2019 07:23 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/another-idea-super-showdown-match-originally-different-ending/


You mean that wasn’t their original idea? Super ShowDown was a rather interesting show for a variety of reasons but few of them would be
described as positive. In addition to some rather negatively reviewed
matches, there were also some booking decisions that left fans scratching
their heads. As it turns out, one of them might not only have been a last minute change, but we might not be done with it.

According to Dave Meltzer on Wrestling Observer Radio, the finish to the
Lucha House Party vs. Lars Sullivan match at Super ShowDown was not the originally planned ending. The ending that took place saw Sullivan
attacked by all three members of the team at the same time, earning himself
a win via disqualification, followed by him destroying all three of them.
There is currently no word on what the original finish was going to be,
though the match may be taking place again on Monday Night Raw in the near future.

Sullivan did dominate part of the match at least. Check out some of his
better moments:
[This post contains video, click to play]


Opinion: I’m almost scared to know what the original plan was as the ending they went with was about as bad of a decision as they could have chosen
without Sullivan losing. Sullivan is the kind of monster who should be
able to destroy most people he comes near, but he gets a DQ win against
three guys he should smash? I don’t get it, and I don’t know how many other people do either.

How would you have ended the match? Where does Sullivan go from here? Let
us know in the comments below.

Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since 2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.

Get the latest and greatest in professional wrestling news by signing up
for our daily email newsletter. Just look below for GET EXCLUSIVE UPDATES
to sign up. We are proud to offer our popular Wrestling Rumors app and encourage you to download it for an optimized user experience. It is
available for Android and also on iOS. Thank you for reading!

The post There Was Another Idea. Super ShowDown Match Originally Had A Different Ending. appeared first on WrestlingRumors.net.


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Florence Freedom Wrestling Night Live Report (Photos Included)

Posted: 09 Jun 2019 06:55 PM PDT https://wrestlingrumors.net/tommyhall/florence-freedom-wrestling-night-live-report-photos-included/

On Thursday, I took in Wrestling Night at the Florence Freedom baseball
game. It was a pretty simple setup: the wrestlers would throw out first
pitches together, do some goofy stuff in the early innings and then sign autographs in the third inning, followed by a Q&A session after the game.
Since traffic was a complete nightmare, I missed the first pitches and some
of the shenanigans, though I did catch the end of Billy Gunn losing a dance contest. As a bonus, the plate music all night long was nothing but WWE
theme songs, so at least they were trying a little extra.
There were four wrestlers present: Brian Pillman Jr. (remember that this is about 15 minutes south of Cincinnati), Billy Gunn, Jim Cornette and Jim
Ross. Marty Jannetty had to cancel due to a family emergency.
The ballpark is rather small so there wasn’t much to be seen. I was walking around a bit before the game and saw Gunn and Pillman walking towards an office. A kid asked Gunn for his autograph and he said you can get them
during the third inning. Then he took a step, turned around and signed the kid’s ball. That was a nice touch, as my previous interaction with Gunn hadn’t been the best in the world.
The line for the autographs was rather long, though they kept things moving fairly well. You could get any item signed so I grabbed a Freedom baseball
and mini bat while in the line (smart move to sell them there) so
Gunn/Pillman could sign the ball and Cornette could sign the bat (Cornette
with an item that can be used to beat people senselessly seemed
appropriate).
As you can see, I got JR to sign a bottle of his chipolte ketchup
(signature on top, WWE HOF on the bottom), which is rather tasty. The
annoying part there though was the Freedom attendant started talking to JR about barbecue sauce while I was just left standing there as he signed.
Kind of defeats the purpose no?
All four were rather nice with Gunn being more approachable than I was expecting. Cornette was his usual chatty self and was telling stories in between fans coming up. Pillman was incredibly nice and asked every fan’s name. I mentioned meeting him before at WrestleCon and he looked straight
at me and was clearly listening while I talked. You don’t get that a lot of the time.
JR was the big one here as I’ve never gotten to meet him before. He was appreciative that I said I liked his AEW performance and that he was the
first voice I remember in wrestling (Clash of the Champions XII when Sting
was confronted by the REAL Black Scorpion). That got a smile out of him and
he told me to keep listening.
The Q&A went well with the four sitting on top of a dugout in some chairs. Pillman wasn’t asked much and looked a bit bored (completely
understandable) though he did get asked why he didn’t change his name to avoid the pressure of his dad’s legacy. He gave a very nice response about following your gut and figuring out what he wanted to do because that’s
what mattered most. It earned a nice round of applause from the fans and sounded very genuine.
Other highlights included JR explaining the territory system to a young
fan, Billy Gunn demonstrating the Rockabilly dance, some funny New Age
Outlaw stories, Cornette on why WWE won the war (hint: it has to do with
WCW being stupid), Gunn and Cornette (politely) going at it over the Double
Or Nothing battle royal and Cornette offering Gunn money to beat up Joey
Ryan during their upcoming match.
The best of all though was a question Cornette got about whether he would
save Joey Ryan or Vince Russo if they were both drowning and he only had
one life preserver.
Cornette: “I’d wear both of them myself, stand on their heads and make sure they drowned. Then I’d give Russo mouth to mouth so he could come back to life and I could do it again.”
All in all, a rather fun night for $70 total. I had a good time and got to
meet some stars, one of which I’ve been trying to meet for years.


Thomas Hall has been a wrestling fan for over thirty years and has seen
over 50,000 wrestling matches. He has also been a wrestling reviewer since
2009 with over 5,000 full shows covered. You can find his work at kbwrestlingreviews.com, or check out his Amazon author page with 28
wrestling books. His latest book is the History Of In Your House.


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